Jay-Z Tops 2Pac, G-Unit

Jay-Z only needed one weekend to put up monster sales numbers. Last week, his new -- and, if you believe him, final -- CD The Black Album was rushed to stores, and more than 460,000 fans rushed out to buy it.

To counteract bootlegging -- and perhaps drum up publicity -- both The Black Album and Beg for Mercy, from 50 Cent's G-Unit crew, were released last Friday instead of this past Tuesday, so they did not enjoy a full opening week. Neither seemed to suffer much, however, as Beg moved 376,000 copies, to debut at Number Three, one slot lower than Resurrection, yet another posthumous blockbuster from 2Pac.

Classical-pop crooner Josh Groban and jingoistic country hero Toby Keith broke up hip-hop's hold on the Top Five, as their Closer (375,000) and Shock N Y'all (227,000) -- last week's Number One -- came in at Number Four and Five respectively.

Jay-Z should savor this week because it might be his last ever in the top spot. Next week, Britney Spears' super-hyped In the Zone, the Beatles "new" album Let It Be . . . Naked, punk-pop stars Blink-182's self-titled fifth album and the embattled Michael Jackson's new greatest hits album Number Ones all hit the charts . . . just in time for holidays.

This week's Top Ten: Jay-Z's The Black Album; 2Pac's Resurrection; G-Unit's Beg for Mercy; Josh Groban's Closer; Toby Keith's Shock N Y'all; Now That's What I Call Music! 14; Sarah McLachlan's Afterglow; Kid Rock's Kid Rock; Pink's Try This; and Sheryl Crow's The Very Best of Sheryl Crow.

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  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
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  MOVIES 'Star Trek' Is Crazy Good
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  TV
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  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“Is It True”

Brenda Lee | 1964

As the British Invasion reached its peak in 1964, Brenda Lee went from Nashville to London to record one of her hardest-rocking hits, her perky vocal backed by a stuttering, squalling guitar. That guitar was played by session musician Jimmy Page, yet to skyrocket to fame with first the Yardbirds and then Led Zeppelin. "She said to me, 'I've come here to make a record with the British sound,'" remembered producer Mickie Most. "She felt she wouldn't get the same sound in Nashville because they're only just catching up on the British beat group sound of about six months ago."

More Song Stories entries »

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